Code Prototype
by Amun-Ra1
Summary: Alex Mercer has escaped New York, and has since spent the rest of his life hiding in Japan. He can't help but get involved when 'Zero' steals the spotlight. Note: Events of Prototype have taken place under Brittanian rule, but is still basicly the same
1. Waking up in a War Zone

Alex Mercer slumped down on his bed and sighed. He felt like a cancer in the world, and oddity, unnoticed by the rest of humanity. He was a monster masquerading as a human.

It seemed so long ago, the infection of Manhattan. He wasn't even sure how long. Immortality seemed to be an added bonus to his powers. All he knew was that it was different then. Britannia wasn't as power hungry, nor was it as corrupt and stuck up. All they controlled was Australia, North America, and part of Europe. Helicopters and tanks was the most lethal weapons, there were no 'Knightmares'. If there were Knightmares then, things would have turned out much different. He might not even be alive right now, if he could call his current state 'living'.

After he killed the supreme hunter and set off the atomic bomb in the ocean, he decided that things could sort out without him. He got what he needed. But the Britannian military was still looking for him, so he stole a jet and escaped. Well, not without a bit of trouble, though. Alex took care of it, but now the military knew he had left Manhattan. He couldn't stay in North America, now called "Area 1", anymore, so he went in a straight line out into sea and headed to the first country that came to his mind. Japan. He'd already learned the language when he consumed a Japanese businessman, so language wasn't a problem. After he settled down in Japan, he waited silently as he saw the world change before his eyes. Britannia had started to expand, and then started to label parts of the world by numbers. Then corruption and slavery spread, and soon he was stuck living in an apartment in the 'ghetto' of what used to be Tokyo, making a sloppy living, and sticking with the people who he felt might need him one day. After all, he had a mountain of sins to make up for. He'd started to make a living by stealing money from refrain dealers, but not before slaughtering and absorbing them. He still hungered; something that he didn't notice in Manhattan because it was something he did every second of his time there, but as soon as his ability was not needed, he noticed that he had a craving to 'feed'.

He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. His 'modification' made eating or sleeping unnecessary, but he still did it anyway. He attempted to think happy thoughts, but none came to him. He'd just have to wait.

*************

Alex was woken by the ground shaking and the sound of gunshots and passing helicopters. He had fallen asleep in a shithole and woke up in a warzone. Well, it would be a war zone, if people were actually fighting back. The chaos was spreading towards him, but not quite to him yet. He got up and headed towards the window, which was a common exit for him.

"Freeze, don't move!" A voice behind him called out. Mercer turned around quickly, and saw several Britannian soldiers pointing their guns at him.

Mercer slowly raised his arms, but while doing so, felt several SMG rounds enter his chest and exit out of his back. He collapsed to the floor, playing dead. A soldier flipped Alex's body with his foot. "Huh, not an Eleven. Well, he's sure dressed shitty, so he couldn't have been that important."

As the soldier made his way towards the exit, Mercer grabbed his leg and pulled him to the floor. "What the shit?!" he called out before Alex crawled on top of him. Biomass flowed out of Mercer's body and slowly absorbed his body. "OH GOD, HELP! AHHH-" He yelled as his body was decomposed and absorbed.

Alex's brain started to burn uncontrollably as he dug though his pray's memories.

"_Listen up; your orders are to eliminate EVERYBODY you see. Women, children, dogs, old people, shoot everything that moves. Radio in if you see anything out of the ordinary."_

"You fucking bastards…" Mercer's fingers started to elongate and sharpen. "Monsters like you almost make me feel like a real human." Alex entered his clawed attack mode and charged towards the shocked soldiers. He ducked under the fire from the soldiers and came in close, and then in one solid horizontal swipe he halved all the soldiers in his small room. Blood sprayed from the bodies and covered the walls, giving it a pleasant shade of red. Alex stood up to his full height.

He exited his small apartment and looked to his right. A soldiers was about to kick down the door to the Kende family. They often invited him to dinner, he never knew why, he didn't exactly radiate with that 'friendly' feeling. Just as the soldier kicked down the door and pointed his gun inside the room, he was grabbed by Alex's whip fist and pulled towards him. "WHAT THE FUCK?! LET GO OF ME YOU DIRTY SACK OF…" before he could finish his insult, he had entered muscle mass mode and tore the soldier in half, splashing the hallway with blood and guts. The mutilated body was pulled towards Alex's body by small tendrils, and then was sucked inside of him.

"Knob-gobbling fuckmints what the hell is that?!"

"Fucking retreat!"

"Don't just stand there, he must be a terrorist! Shoot him! Shoot him!!"

Alex turned around and saw another group of soldiers making a firing formation, with the soldiers in the front crouching and the ones in the back pointing their guns over them. "Fire!"

Alex crouched down and hid behind a hardened biomass shield, and reached behind him and grabbed his previous victim's gun. He pointed the gun past his shield and pulled the trigger. His bullets flew true, and he downed the entire squad in seconds.

There was a moment of silence. He activated his inferred vision and scanned the area around him. Many families in the rooms down the hall were murdered, but the rooms behind him were still unscathed. "Alex?" a voice called out from the Kende family apartment, and a small girl around the age of 11 was looking at him. He still had his muscle mass on his right arm, his shield on his left and his gun in his hand. "What's wrong with your arms, Alex?" the little girl asked. "Is it the same thing that happened with your head?"

She was referring to the time that she tried to pull off his hood, only to find out that it was stuck to his head. It was part of his body. Alex just told her that an 'accident' made it fuse to his skin. "Yes, it is…" Alex said as he withdrew his powers and went back to his normal shape.

"Alex, is this the reason why you always seem so thoughtful and quiet?" And elderly man exited the room. "I could see it in your eyes, a lifetime of suffering and guilt, like you had something to make up for and no way to do it." Alex stood up and the old man put his hand on Alex's s shoulder. "I don't know what you are, or how you became what you are, but that chance to make up for your sins that you have been searching for has shown itself. Take it, my son, and do what you feel is right."

Alex nodded. "Thanks…" Alex said as he looked the old man in the eyes. "But… how can you tell this?"

The old man just laughed lightly and said "With age comes wisdom, Alex. Perhaps one day you will be like me, too."

Alex entered the family's room, passing the old man. He opened up the window and started to climb out. "Tell the survivors to arm themselves with the weapons in the hall. They don't expect resistance, so the element of surprise is still on our side." He pushed off the window ledge with his legs and glided across the street. Alex landed in an alley, slipping down the wall to soften his fall.

A squad of about 10 soldiers marched past the ally. Alex took the disguise of a soldier and merged with the squad unnoticed. _'Alright, let's see if I've still got it.'_ Alex thought to himself. Biomass flowed around his legs as he matched the pace of the soldiers. Then he bent his knees, and pushed off the ground with great force. He glided forwards past the squad, and then landed with a ground-shattering thud in front of them.

"The fuck?!" The squad leader exclaimed. Mercer turned around quickly, raised his SMG, and let the bullets fly. "Taking friendly fire, I repeat, taking friendly-AHH!" Within seconds, he had downed the entire squad without a single wound.

"That was too easy. These guys are a joke." Alex said as he wiped the blood off of his leather jacket.

"There he is! Fire! Fire!" Alex turned around and saw another squad pointing their guns at him. He allowed his disguise to disappear as he formed a shield on his left arm and a blade on his right. He charged forwards, letting the bullets hit his shield, and when he got close to the squad, he lowered the shield and raised his blade, and then swung it left, then right, all while sprinting right through the squad. A pile of sliced bodies lay in his wake, along with several soldiers yelling "It's a fucking monster! I'm getting the hell outta here!" and "I didn't sign up for this shit!" Alex did a back flip, landed in the middle of the squad again, and then formed his whip-fist. He swung his arm back, and then smashed all but one of the soldiers around him. He turned towards the remaining soldier.

"I surrender! Please don't kill me!" he said as he threw down his weapon and raised his arms.

"It's too late for that." Alex's arms started to bulge, then turned black as he entered muscle mass mode. He grabbed both sides of the soldier's body, and before he had a chance to scream, tore him in half in a bloody shower. Mercer's biomass extended from his body and caught all the falling blood and body parts, then sucked in the rest of his body. Mercer then got on his knees and clenched his head in pain.

'_You will have Sutherland backup when necessary, we have many Knights on standby. If trouble shows, we'll start blowing shit up.'_

As if on cue, the whirring of Sutherland wheels started to grow louder. A Sutherland rounded the street corner and faced Alex. "There you are!" a voice said from the machine. The factsphere on the Nightmare's head reviled itself and started to scan Alex. Both of Alex's fists entered whip fist mode. Alex swung back his right arm, and then hurled it forward, throwing his whip straight into the factsphere's 'eye'. "What the fuck?!" the knight said as he took a step back. "My targeting system is gone! What the hell are you?" He pointed his assault rifle right at Alex and stated simply "No matter, you're dead, anyway." Alex charged the mass around his legs, and the instant the knight started to fire, he jumped straight into the air. "What? Where did he go?" he said as he looked at the dusty crater formed by his rifle fire. Suddenly he felt a thud on top of his cockpit. His heart stopped a second, and then large fist-like dents started to appear in the top of his cockpit. "Oh God, what the hell is going on?!" The knight hastily found the communication controls. "Commander! Come in, Commander!"

A deep, bossy sounding voice came from the other end "Yes, what is it? I'm busy, you know!"

"Commander, something trying to get into my cockpit! It's freaking me the fuck out!"

"That's impossible. Your cockpit was made to survive direct attacks; nothing can just beat its way inside of it…" The commander heard a large crash. Then he heard what sounded like several ropes, and then there was a blood curdling scream. All of this was followed by a wet sound. Then there was nothing but silence. "What the hell is going on out there?" the Commander said to himself.

***********

Notes: There are a few things I gotta point out. The events of Prototype are basicly still the same. I'm not going to go into full details of these events. Also, the infection is not going to come back. That'll mess with the story line. Alex may or may not recieve a Geass, I'm still debating this with myself. The story line will go basicly the same, but with more Mercer.


	2. Meeting of the Minds

So much positive feedback, thanks a ton, guys! :D

By the way…

"_Text" _– Memories.  
_'Text'_ – Thoughts

*****

"_In your time spent here, you will learn how to expertly pilot the most expensive mass produced item in the military. A lot of people think it's just like working with a real human body, BUT IT'S NOT. Making it move like a human is no easy task, and that's why you're here!"_

Alex climbed into the seat and started to work the controls. "Testing assault rifle…" He pointed the oversized gun at an approaching squad and took it out. "Check. Testing slash harkens…" Both of the slash harkens shot out of the Knightmare, and then withdrew a second later. "Check. Testing mobility…" Alex moved the Knightmare forwards and then backwards, and rotated some of the limbs. "Check. Alright, come and get me!" Alex turned on his tactical map, showing the locations of all the other Sutherlands. He charged forwards at top speed, and then rounded a corner, coming face to face with three Knights. He lifted up his rifle and downed the Knightmare on the right in a barrage of oversized bullets. The cockpit automatically ejected, and smashed into a building.

"Taking friendly fire from Sir Jackson! Returning fire!" The other two started to return fire. Alex's Knightmare was taking serious damage, but kept firing. Redirecting fire at the middle Knightmare, he forced it to eject, flying off into the distance. Then a warning flashed up on his screen. Alex quickly turned his back to the last Knightmare, then started to fall back. The cockpit flew out of Knightmare, and made direct contact with his foe, knocking it over. Alex jumped high into the air through the hole in his cockpit he made earlier and at the peak of his jump, switched to hammer-fist and dropped fist first onto the chest of the Sutherland. The tremendous kinetic energy spread through the entire machine, including the sakuradite inside of it and to the inside of the cockpit, and a second later it exploded, sending Alex flying back a short ways.

"That was easy." Alex said as he stood up straight and went back to his original form. Then he heard the sound of more Knights heading his way. "Great, here comes the cavalry."

Five Knightmares surrounded him from several directions. "Die, terrorist scum!" The Knights raised their rifles and aimed at Alex.

"You first." Alex turned both of his fists into whips. He flung his left fist towards the rifle of the Knightmare in front of him. As he pulled back with all his might, disarming the Knightmare, he threw his right onto the Knightmare's chest. The rifle landed with a giant thud, and Alex pulled himself up to the Knightmare with great force. He quickly transformed his left hand into a hammer fist, and pounded it right into the Sutherland. He kicked off of the Sutherland with his feet and landed back into the spot he was before. The Sutherland made a small explosion and fell apart.

"Holy shit, did you see what I think I saw?"  
"Is this some bio-weapon?"  
"No matter, it can't be immune to bullet! Fire away!"

The four remaining Knightmares fired on the 'bio-weapon', kicking up dust around him. "We've got him nooOOOW!" The Knightmares were shocked when they were suddenly being attacked from below, losing all functionality in their legs. Giant spikes were rising from the ground, piercing through the fragile electronics and gears of the legs. The spikes retracted into the ground, and the Knightmares lost their balance and fell to the ground. "What the hell! I've lost my legs!"  
"Losing balance, damn it!"  
"London bridges falling!"  
"Fuck this shit; it's not ending this way! I'm taking you out with me!"

One of the Knights threw a grenade up into the air above them all. "No you moron, not the Chaos Mine! FUUUUUUUU-."

Suddenly, a barrage of lasers emitted from the mine, raining destruction down upon them. The Sutherlands were all eliminated under the attack. Alex felt beam after beam peace his body, and reacted quickly by switching on his armor to reduce the damage. "Fuck! Agh!" Alex focused and formed a shield in addition to his armor, pointing it straight up. The force of the mine pushed him down onto his knees. "God… damn it!" In a few seconds, the mine had run out, and he quickly reformed his body. "Must… feed…" Alex got on his feet and ran off in the direction of a commercial building. He bust down the door and made his ascent.

******

Lelouch bent over to pick up the chess pieces on the ground. They were of no use, just symbolic. He then heard a loud bang over his head. Looking up, he saw that a helicopter was falling out of the sky in a bright fireball. However, something was different. A body was falling down from the helicopter. It was heading right towards him. The body was falling at an incredible speed. It landed with an earth-shattering smash, sending shockwaves through the ground. Lelouch grunted as he lost his balance and hit the ground with his back. Lelouch sat back up, and was shocked to see that the body had landed feet first, and was getting up from a kneeling position. His hands started to turn into gigantic claws. He quickly turned his head towards Lelouch and sprinted towards him.

'_It's going to kill me!' _Lelouch thought as he scrambled towards the Sutherland. Just as he reached the rope to lift him back up to the cockpit, Alex had grabbed Lelouch's neck with his enlarged hand, and lifted him up into the air.

"Who are you? You're not a soldier!" Alex spoke in a harsh tone.

"I am… cough… Lelouch Lamperouge… a Britannian student." Lelouch's mind was racing. _'What is he? Is he a Britannian bio-weapon? If so, why does he seem hostile to the soldiers? What do I have to tell him to save my life? Can I use him? Will he join my cause? Will it be worth it'?"_

"Why do you have a Knightmare, boy?"

Lelouch thought of the different answers he could make and what the possible outcomes would be. "… I found it." Alex threw Lelouch to the ground. Lelouch coughed and looked back up at him and asked "Are you a terrorist?"

Alex thought about the question. A terrorist gets what he wants by striking fear in his enemies. By that definition, yes, he was. His only purpose was fear. It's what he lived for. "I guess you could call me that."

''_I guess'? Just like I thought, he works independently.' _Lelouch thought to himself. "I have something to tell you." He said as he got up off the ground. "I'm the leader of the terrorists."

Alex retracted his claws. "And why are you telling me this?"

Lelouch activated his Geass and stared Alex right into the eyes. "I want you to join my cause."

Alex's eyes glowed red for a second, and then went back to his regular color. "And why the hell should I?"

'_My Geass has no effect; I'll have to convince him the old fashioned way.' _Lelouch thought as he deactivated his Geass. "Someone with gifts like yours should not have to work alone. We can work in conjunction, with your help we can bring Britannia to its knees." Lelouch extended his arm and offered his hand. "Will you accept my invitation?"

Alex thought a moment about his offer. He was powerful, but he couldn't take on an entire empire. Oh, how his time at Manhattan would have been different if he had a team of humans on his side. "I accept."

"Perfect. Accompany me in the nightmare, and I will set my plan into action."

*******

Alex sat on top of the leader's Knightmare. He had moved into a hole in a building, and was posted there. He seemed to be waiting for something. He tuned his biologic radio, seeing if he was sending information through it. Sure enough, he heard his voice over the radio waves.

"The west entrance. Use the tracks to move to the west entrance."  
"Who's this?! How do you know this code?!"

'_What? Don't they know his voice? What if he isn't really the leader? Did the lie to me?'_

"That doesn't matter. If you wanna win you're gonna have to trust me."  
"To win?"

Alex saw a red Glasgow moving along the tracks. _'That must be one of the terrorists.'_

"Okay, what am I supposed to do now?"

Two blue Sutherlands were hot on the terrorist's heels. Then Alex noticed a train coming towards the terrorist from the other direction.

"Since you trusted me you're gonna win. Jump on to the train!"  
"Gotcha!" The terrorist jumped up on top of the train and continued moving forward. One of the Sutherlands grabbed onto the train and started to slow it down.

"You, go after the Glasgow!"The Knight commanded the other.

"Yes, my Lord!" The Knight jumped over the 'lord' and went towards the train. However, Lelouch's Slash Harkens launched out and knocked him off course and beheaded him.

"What's your name and unit?" The lord asked. "We're after the one armed Glask- " Lelouch raised and fired his weapon at him. He was pummeled with bullets until one of his legs detached. The lord raised his gun and aimed at him and Lelouch. "You son of a-!"

The lord then saw the terrorist charging towards him, and ejected off into the distance. Alex felt Lelouch start to move. He held on tight and rode with him to his next destination. While Lelouch was heading towards his destination, he activated the radio again.

"Are you in charge?"  
"Uh, yeah…"  
"I present to you the cargo in that train over there. They're tools for your victory. If you want to use them to win, then follow my orders." He waited a bit, and then continued talking. "Woman in the Glasgow."  
"Yes!"  
"Your unit is going to run decoy, got that?"

Lelouch had reached his destination, another hole in a tall skyscraper.

"Understood!"  
"Energy filler status?"  
"About 15 minutes worth."  
"Then recharge it. In ten minutes I'll contact you with your next instructions."

Lelouch terminated the connection. Alex took this as a sign that now was a good time to discuss matters with him. He knocked on the top of the cockpit, which then slid open. "You lied to me, you're not their leader."

"Well, I am now, aren't I?" Lelouch said as the twirled a chess piece in his hand. "By the way, you never told me your name."

"My name is Alex Mercer, though many refer to me as 'Zeus'. I'm the result of a Britannian bio-weapon, a virus called 'Blacklight'."

'_Blacklight virus?' _Lelouch thought to himself, _'But that would mean…'_ He took the chance and asked him. "Tell me, were you around during the virus outbreak in the New York settlement?"

There was a short moment of silence. "Yes, I was."

'_This is perfect!' _ Lelouch thought to himself. '_The monster from the Manhattan outbreak is on my side, he could be a great asset in my plans…'_ "Tell me, what exactly are your abilities?"

"The virus that has re-animated my body allows me to shift the bio-mass of my body into different tools." He turned his right hand into a hammer-fist and the left into a claw. "I can also take the form of somebody after consuming their body." He shifted his form into a Britannian soldier. He spoke out in a different man's voice. "All of this, plus superhuman reflexes, strength, and healing." He shifted his form back to his regular self. "Any other questions?"

"Tell me about your ability to consume others."

"When I kill someone, I have the option to absorb them. This does three things. It heals my body, steals their identity so I can take their form, and, if I choose to, take their memories."

This last bit of information interested Lelouch greatly. "Memories?"

"Yes. I don't steal their entire life's worth of memories, but I can steal passwords, locations, names, how to operate machinery, you get the idea."

"Such power is almost unimaginable… then again, so is mine." Lelouch's chair slid back into the cockpit, but he kept the hatch open so he could stay within hearing range. He activated the radio and started issuing commands.

"…Shoot them through the wall."

"Ahgg, he's out of his mind!" a voice in the background called out.

"This is going to get interesting." Alex said as he watched the battle unfold in the distance.


	3. The White Knight Vs The Angel of Death

For now we'll consider 'Full Armor' a defensive devastator. Normally we wouldn't see both armor and shield, but we'll just say he's been training or something.

Please remember to leave a review.

**

Alex sat on Lelouch's Knightmare, watching the battle unfold below. He listened as Lelouch gave complex commands to the terrorists. '_This guy's the real deal.' _He thought as he watched a gigantic cloud of dust and debris rise into the sky from a collapsed tunnel. _'It really is best that I team up with him. It's either that or work on my own, accomplishing next to nothing and eventually getting killed.'_

"This is B group, reporting enemy presence!"  
"Status."  
"Everyone ejected, but they took out four units in nothing flat!"  
"Enemy numbers?"  
"Just one, I think it's a new model, never seen anything like AAAHHHHH-!"

The transition was cut short. _'Something's going wrong.' _Alex mentally readied himself for the worst."

"What? It reflects bullets?"  
"Yeah, what do we do?! AAAAGHAAH!"

Mercer sat and waited as he heard the chaos continue. Then he saw a wire shoot up and grab a ledge on the building they were in. In a flash, a white and gold Knightmare pulled itself up and dashed inside the building. It attempted to strike at Lelouch, but Lelouch blocked with his arms. The white Knightmare pushed against Lelouch, moving him back. "Are you the guy that's in command?" a voice from the machine asked. Alex, still standing on the Sutherland, responded by turning both of his fists into hammers and doing a smack-down on the attacking pilot's arms. "What the?" His counter-attack pushed the pilot off of Lelouch, but he then heard a cracking below him.

'_The floor is giving way!' _Alex fell back, along with Lelouch's Knightmare. He caught his fall, and quickly turned on his inferred vision. He looked up and saw the white Knightmare preparing to do a drop attack on them. "No!" Alex yelled as he entered muscle mass form. He jumped off the floor with all his might and made contact with it. His attack didn't knock it back enough, but it did cause it to miss its target.

"Get out of here! I'll catch up with you later!" Alex yelled at Lelouch.

"Got it." He said as he skated off, making his escape. "Good luck."

The Knightmare made a swipe at Alex. "Are you the leader? Answer me!"

Alex rolled to the side, dodging the attack. "Maybe I am."

"In that case, prepare to die!" He prepared to make another attack, but saw movement in the corner of his eye. He caught a robotic fist attempting to interrupt their fight. The attacking Glasgow's fist was being crushed, so it launched one of the slash harkens. It was caught by the white Knightmare's right hand, and was crushed as well. The Glasgow keeled down and ejected the cockpit. The white Knightmare turned its head back to its original target, only to find something different there. "What? Is this the same person? No, it can't be!"

He was looking at the most intimidating 'person' he had ever witnessed. It was clad head to toe with a dark, pitch black armor, and fused to both arms were gigantic blades. "Take this, you brainwashed bastard!" the black knight jumped into the air, raising both of his arms up and bringing them down, aiming for the machine's chest. With a quick flick of his arm, the pilot redirected the attack to the side. Alex landed, and in one quick motion bounced right back up to attack again.

"He's so fast! He can't be human!" the pilot said as he dodged the attack. The armored man took another swipe, then another, each one fast enough that there wasn't enough time to counterattack. He then felt himself falling. Alex had forced him over the ledge of the building. "This can't be happening!" he said as he fired a slash hearken to catch himself. Alex, however, jumped off the building and slashed the wire with the blade on his right hand. _'What? He jumped off the building?'_ he thought as he watched Alex divebomb down towards him. _'I don't know if I can take this fall, I've got to…' _The pilot turned around and fired his slash hearken on his right hand at a building across the street. He made contact, and began pulling himself that direction. _'I'm saved!'_ he thought to himself, but was shocked to see a streak of black move across his screen, leaving behind a cut wire. With the wire gone, he attempted to gain control of himself, grabbing onto the building with his hands, slowing his decent. When he got down low enough, he jumped off and landed in the middle of the street. Down the street waiting for him in a giant crater was the black knight. "Just who are you? Why is it that you oppose us?"

"You may call me 'Zeus'. I fight because it is what I was born to do, and is a curse I must forever live with." His left arm started to shift, and the blade transformed into a shield. The gigantic blade on his right, the shield on his left and the black armor was enough to send fear into many men, but luckily he had a Knightmare on his side. "Now give me your best shot!"

"Fine, have it your way!" They faced each other, and got into their own fighting stance. Alex took the offensive, and with amazing speed charged headfirst into danger. Jumping up to the Knightmare's head height, he spun his body in the air and landed a solid kick to the side of the head. This effectively knocked the Lancelot off balance. _'There's no way a human could land a kick hard and quick enough to knock a Knightmare off balance! How is this even possible?' _Alex recovered, and on his way back down from the jump, brought his blade downward, making a shallow gash down the body of the Lancelot.

****

"Lloyd, I'm detecting minor damage to the Lancelot." Cécile informed, pulling up a screen showing the status of several body parts.

"Whaaaat? What kind of damage?"

Cécile pulled up more information. "It seems to be a slash down the torso. No major components damaged."

" Nohoho!" Lloyd cried in despair, "My Lancelot!"

"Uh, sir, it's only a scratch…"

"Give me visuals of what's going on!" Lloyd said as he pounded his fist on his a console.

"Careful, you'll break something, Lloyd." Cécile said as she pulled up the data currently being sent by the Lancelot's eyes.

Lloyd stared at the screen, watching an armored man being chased by the Lancelot. It was sprinting down the street dashing over cars and debris, as well as plowing down people and soldiers. "What? A foot unit caused the damage?" Lloyd said as he noticed the large blade on his arm. Then a small smile crept up on Lloyd's face. "Cécile, tell me, what are the chances that this person is a human?"

"Well, he has humanoid body shape and functions…"

"No, I mean a human like you and me. Look at its speed, matching even the Lancelot, with what appears to be full body armor. Cécile, zoom in on its arm." He waited while she zoomed in. "See that? The blade starts where its elbow should be! Do you know what that means?"

"His arm was surgically removed and replaced with the blade?"

"Nope, that blade IS his arm! Watch and we'll see more…" They watched as Suzaku continued to chase after Alex. Alex curved around a corner and ran up the side of a building. "See? Amazing, isn't it!" Suzaku raised his left arm up and shot a slash harken up onto the building ledge. He followed Alex up the building, reading for an attack. Alex's right arm started to change, the blade was disappearing and his fists reappeared, but much larger than normal. He slowed his ascent, and then started to drop elbow-first towards Suzaku. The elbow made contact with the Lancelot's head, and transmission was lost.

There was a moment of silence between the two as they stared at the static on the screen. Cécile was afraid that Lloyd would be mad, but then he suddenly burst out yelling "Yes! Yes! I love it!" Lloyd did a dance-like spin. "I absolutely _must_ have it!"

"Sir, what exactly was that?"

Lloyd turned around and faced his companion. "That was the Legendary 'Zeus'."

"Zeus? As in the God?"

"God? Hah! More like devil!" he said as he pushed up his glasses. "This creature was created during the Blacklight outbreak in the Manhattan settlement in Area 1, and was a menace to the Britannian military at the time."

"Blacklight outbreak? You mean the virus that nearly wiped out the entire city?"

"Exactly. It's commonly referred to as the biggest disaster in the entire history of Area 1, and this creature was in the middle of it all."

"If he's manmade, why don't you just make another one? The outbreak was a long time ago, I'm sure it would be easier to do the redo the experiment now."

"My dear, I think you're confusing 'crazy' with 'stupid'." He said as he put his hand on Cécile's shoulder. "The last time somebody messed with that virus, an entire city was zombiefied." Lloyd went to a computer and pulled up some information. "Besides, take a look. After the 'sterilization' of the city failed, the King ordered that the virus and all its different strands be terminated. Recreating the virus would be a pain, as well. Over the years we've made vaccinations for the virus's ancestors, nearly wiping them all out, so recreating it would take too long and has a low chance of even working. And since the incident, there have been very strict laws on bio-engineering that even _we_ have to follow." He closed down the information. "And even if we do make the virus, that's only the tip of the iceberg of making a new Zeus."

***

Suzaku got up off the ground. "Automatic high-speed stabilization lost… video communications lost, audio communications lost... why do they have to put all the important stuff in the head?" He turned towards his opponent, who was standing in the middle of the street writhing in pain. "What's wrong with him?" Alex stopped for a second, then thrust his palms outwards towards Suzaku. Suzaku quickly brought up his right Blaze Luminous, and turned it on just in time to block a giant tendril that protruded from Alex's palms. "What the hell is this?" The Lancelot was being pushed back, grinding the ground below his feet. Alex however, stood firmly on the ground, not moving. The tendril was huge, and seemed to be pulsating a sort of energy that distorted the light around it. The bio-matter on the outside was moving towards his shield, pushing hard, threatening to rip his shield apart. After a few seconds, the tendril stopped, and the bio-matter retracted back into Alex. Suzaku turned off his Blaze Luminous and readied himself. "He's wide open, now's my chance!" Suzaku sprinted quickly up to his target, and in one quick flick, kicked Alex high into the air. Suzaku jumped up high, and then used his wrist mounted shields as an attack mechanism, slashing Alex's body into pieces. _"Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, upward, thrust!"_ Suzaku sliced Alex into large chunks, and then did a palm thrust, pushing him far across the street, smashing him into the side of a building. A large hole in the building formed, caused by heavily armored body parts, and his victim laid in pieces in an office. "Another victory for Britannia." He wheeled off, pressing buttons checking if any of his communications were up.

It was silent, with the exception of the sound of dust settling from the large impact. Then, a whooshing sound came from Mercer's body, as his body parts started to melt together, reforming his body. When his body had fully repaired himself, his eyes jerked open and he jumped back up on his feet. "You'll pay for that, soldier." He lowered down and got into a sudden quick sprint, jumping down from the building and parkouring down the road.

***

Lelouch stood over the limp body of Clovis Britannia. _'I've done it, I've killed my brother!'_ His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. _'I didn't plan for this! I can't be seen like this!'_ He turned around quickly, firing pistol rounds right into the chest of the intruding soldier. The soldier, even though he had taken 5 rounds, just stood there. Then his body shape melted away and a new person stood in his spot. "Oh, it's only you. Sorry about that."

"If you were any other Britannian, you would be a bloody stain on the wall right now." Alex walked over to the corpse. "I see you did it. I heard his order, as well. Too bad I wasn't here to help you; I could have told you everything he knows."

"No, that wouldn't be necessary." Lelouch said as he put his helmet back on. "He told me everything I needed."

"Is that so? Well then, should we make our escape?" Mercer put his disguise back on, opened up the door, and took a step outside.

"You there! Stop right there!" a voice called out. "Stay where you are and identify yourself!"

Escape wasn't going to be easy for the two, it seemed. Alex grabbed Lelouch's gun, and then wrapped his arm around him and held the gun to his head. "Stay where you are or he dies!"


	4. The Next Stage

Alex: *sits on a chair, twiddling his thumbs.*

Lelouch: … so, what do you think of that oil spill thing going on?

Amun: *silently slips through the room, trying to sneak past the two*

Alex: YOU. JUST WERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN.

Amun: *freezes in his tracks* Umm…

Lelouch: If I wasn't so untrained in fighting, I'd kick your ass right now.

Amun: Huh, that was a bit out of character.

Alex: He might be a scrawny weakling, but I'm not. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pound you to a stain in the wall.

Lelouch: Hey, that was uncalled for… *flexes his arm and feels the budge through his shirt with an unsatisfied look on his face*

Amun: I'm the only one who can finish this story!

Alex: THEN GET TO WORK. NOW.

Amun: Okay, okay, sheesh…

)))))))))))

Lelouch spit out the water into the restroom sink, attempting to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth. He turned off the water and spoke silently to himself "I guess I'm not as tough as I thought I was…"

A deeper, more grown up voice behind him spoke up. "Leave any for me to clean up?" Lelouch looked up and saw in the mirror a man behind him. He flinched at first, but then turned around.

"Mercer, how did you get in here? This is a private school, you know."

Alex flicked at a badge pinned to his jacket. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to get a job here, considering that a lot of their workers here were 11's who were from the ghetto." Lelouch took a look at the badge.

Alex Mercer  
Janitor

"So, it looks like we'll be seeing more of each other, then." Lelouch said as he dried his hands off.

"It seems like it. Sadly, I have to go; I can't be seen being too friendly with the students. It's against the terms of my contract." He made his way towards the door. "Oh, and I took the liberty of adding my phone number into your cell." Alex left the restroom, grabbing his broom that he leaned up against the wall.

Lelouch quickly reached for his cell and punched a few numbers. Sure enough, there was a new contact labeled 'Mercer' added. "What the… how the hell did he do that?"

))))))))))))))

Mercer handed the recording device back to Lelouch. "That sounded like the girl in the Glasgow. She's a student here?"

"Yes. I'm wondering if this could be beneficial or a hindrance."

"Well, I could always make her 'disappear' if she's going to be trouble."

At first Lelouch thought he was joking, but he saw that Alex kept a very serious look on his face. "… That won't be necessary." He said as he put the recording device back in his pocket. "By the way, that escape you pulled off before was pretty skillful. Not only do they think it's only one person, but they never even saw your face because of the helmet. And in the scuffle, I got away unnoticed."

Mercer nodded his head and sat down in a chair. "I'm going to be honest here, I know I'm a key piece in this game, and you're just a kid. If I'm going to continue to side with you, we're going to have to accomplish something. If you don't, I'll run the show from here. Have you been making contact with the terrorists?"

"Yes. In fact, I'm about to organize an operation that they will assist in. Watch…" Lelouch grabbed a device on a table next to him and turned on a T.V. It was a news channel and a few men were discussing a recent event.

_"That man is an Eleven, isn't he?"_

_"Yes, he became an honorary citizen a while back, and then joined the military. It was most likely a part of his plot to get close to the Prince and kill him."_

_"This Suzaku person must be really cold blooded. Is he still denying his involvement?"_

_"No, he's stopped doing that. All the evidence points at him, anyway."_

Lelouch turned off the T.V. "An innocent man has been accused the murder. What we're going to do is rescue him at his execution, if in a little bit of a flashy style." He put down the remote control and then picked up a piece of paper. " I saw your armored transformation, and it gave me a little idea…"

"Oh, and what are you planning?"

"We're going to both appear. We're going to raise this from terrorism to guerilla warfare. You won't mind helping the 'insurgents' with a little project first, though?"

Alex turned towards the doorway as he heard the sound of wheels rolling. "Lelouch, who are you talking to?" He saw a fancily decorated chair round the corner and slowly roll its way into the middle of the room.

"Oh, Nunnally… Me and a friend here were planning out a teamwork game we're going to play against some others." He faced Nunnally with a wide smile on his face. Alex noticed that he wouldn't have to fake a smile, as this girl was obviously blind. "Alex, meet my sister, Nunnally."

"Nice to meet you, Alex." Nunnally spoke out doing a small bow in her chair. "I hope my brother isn't too much of a bother."

"Oh no, he's a very fast learner. There's a good reason I chose him as my teammate."

"That's nice. I'll leave you two now. Have fun with that game, whatever it is." She turned her wheelchair around and rolled back out of the door. "Oh, and Lelouch…" She stopped short of the doorway." You heard the news, right? Suzaku wouldn't do something like that… right?"

Lelouch laughed softly. "No, he wouldn't do something that reckless. I'm sure he'll be found innocent, I have faith they will figure out the truth."

She started up her wheelchair again and silently rolled out of the door. Alex then sat down in a chair, looking up at the ceiling. "So, she's your sister, huh…?"

"Yes. I care about her very much, and I don't want to have her mixed up in all of this. This is why I can't abandon my real life for the insurgents."

Alex was silent as he thought back to the days back in Manhattan. "…sister…"

))))))))))))

"Ragland, what's the chances of her waking up?"

The doctor looked up from the girl's unconscious body and up at Alex's eyes with a very serious look on his face. Alex really admired him for not trembling in fear, knowing what Alex was and what he was capable of. "… very slim. I wouldn't keep your hopes up. Honestly, she's more likely to pass away before she wakes up, judging by the state she's in. Also, she might very well have been infected by her captors."

Alex was silent. He went over to one of the walls and leaned on it with both of his hands and facing it, with his head bent down. He then suddenly pulled back his right arm and punched a deep hole in the wall. "Damn it! She's the only person I have left!"

"I'm sorry Alex, but I've done all I can."

"… Thanks, Ragland. Keep an eye on her a little bit longer." He straightened himself and headed towards the door. "I have some business to attend to."

))))))))))

AUTHORS NOTES:

There. I tried to make an escape scene, but I couldn't make it fit. So I just had them say it happened. Not that important to the story, anyway. So far I'm going with the original story, but I'm planning on deviating soon enough.


	5. Zeus and Zero, Partners in Crime

"Face forward and look to your right." Alex was overhearing the conversation between the school girl and Lelouch. "What do you see?"

He looked to in across the aisle to the opposite window on the right. He saw the active, lively city the Britannians built. "The Britannian city," He overheard the girl in the other car speak over the phone. "It was stolen away from us and built on our sacrifice."

He looked at the people in the same car as him. They had a strange look on their face, and kept looking forwards no matter what. It was moments before that Lelouch had shown him his power. Lelouch only had to get everyone's attention, and then tell them to be silent and ignore whatever goes on in his car. As far as he could see, it was some form of brainwashing. Alex felt a combination of hope, curiosity and shock when Lelouch's powers were reviled, but it explained to him why he was so certain he could win Alex's trust and defeat an entire empire. He didn't ask what it was or why he had it, he'll get those answers later.

"Good answer. Now make your way to the front of the train." He heard him hang up. Keeping absolutely still like the others in his car, he watched as the girl passed through, followed by three more terrorists.

As he waited for Lelouch to finish his discussion with the girl and her lackeys, he leaned his head back and looked up to the ceiling of the train, thinking back to the Manhattan incident.

))))

Karen Parker had sold him out. He was filled with rage, wanting nothing other than to find and kill her.

His glide high above the ground slowed, and he came crashing down in the middle of Central Park. The smell of infected flesh was faint and the red tint in the air from infected areas was gone. "Huh… looks like the military has this area under control again." He stood up from his landing position and dusted himself off. He walked over to the path that ran though the park and strolled casually along it. "It's getting dark. I'd better wrap this up and…" He was interrupted by a pained grunt coming from a park bench a ways from him. He ran at a humanly pace to avoid suspicion. He found saw a woman in the distance on a bench, hunkered over in pain.

"Grr… ahhh!" She was rocking back and forth slightly and grunting even louder. Mercer slid to a stop in front of the woman.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He activated his infected vision. She was not infected by blacklight, so that wasn't the problem.

"M-My water just broke…"

He examined her closer with the infected vision. Sure enough, inside of her was another sign of life. '_Oh great, I'm not trained for this… wait, what would Doctor Drake Twin do? I've consumed him, so I should be able to…_'

))))

He felt the train come to a stop. The eyes of the passengers were suddenly not so blank and they started to move as usual again. Some got up to leave. The door to Lelouch's room slid open and the newly dubbed insurgents slid out. One of them faced him and spoke out to him. It was a slim male with blue hair wearing a pale green shirt along with the headband the other males were wearing. "Hey, the superhero in the other room told us to follow you."

Alex stood up from his seat, his head lowered so his face was barely visible because of his hood. "Right, this way." He went towards one of the open doors and waved his hand as a motion for the others to follow him.

))))

"Wait, so that hero back there wants us to make this hunk of junk into the Prince's personal transport? This isn't some stupid reality T.V. show, here."

"Don't worry, all that matters is the exterior. I'll do all the heavy lifting."

A big man wearing a brown jacket and a afro-like hair style spoke up. "Yeah, I can handle that. I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than you."

"No, I'll be doing the lifting." Alex turned around and walked over to a junk pile. "Okay, we'll need to start off with this ten-by-fifteen wood plate. I'll hold it while you nail it down". He picked up hammer and a box of nails and tossed it to the tall man. "You can spray-paint it white." He picked up a can and a cloth and tossed it over to the girl. He then picked up the wood plate with one hand and went to the transport, holding it on the left side. "This will cover the 'package', and before we cover everything up, I'll install the sound-activated device that will deliver it."

)))))

Alex looked to his right over at Lelouch in his suit. It really accentuated his slender body and height. It also matched his current armored state, with a similar shaped head and body. "Ready for this?"

Lelouch nodded. "I'm a bit nervous, but I'm 100% sure this will go as planned." The transport came to a stop, and Lord Jeremiah's voice was projected to them through a loud speaker.

"You dare desecrate his highnesses transport? Come out of there!"

"Show time." Lelouch pressed a button on his helmet and stomped down on another button on the floor. The fuel-soaked-curtain in front of them was lit up in a blaze, revealing themselves to the entire crowd. He could hear Jeremiah's slight gasp in surprise. He sensed a hint of confusion in his voice. This was shortly followed by the confused voice of the crowd around them. "I am… Zero."

It was his turn to shine now. "… and I am Zeus."

Over the murmuring and confused sounds of the crowd, Lord Jeremiah spoke out. "I've had enough of you jokers already." He pointed his pistol up and off to the side. "This little show of yours is over!" He pulled the trigger, creating a loud crack that rang out in the air. The air transports flying above them released the Knightmare frames inside of them, and four of them landed around the transport, pointing their guns at them.

Out of instinct, Zeus hunkered over a little bit and formed his battle stance. His forearms bulged up with bio-mass as he entered his muscle mass mode. Zero just reached his left arm to the side in front of Zeus as a sign to stop. "That won't be necessary, Mercer…" he said softly to him and with his helmet's headset turned off. "Everything's going as planned." The slight breeze caused by the landing of the Knightmare frames caused Zero's cape to lift up dramatically. Mercer straightened himself up and released the bio-mass from his arms.

"First things first, why don't you two lose those masks?" They looked to each other, nodded slightly, then reached towards their faces. Instead of taking off their masks, however, they lifted up their arms straight into the sky and simultaneously snapped their fingers. The wood of the transport burst apart, revealing the strange looking device. It was never explained to him what it really did, but he assumed by the design it was some sort of gas dispersing device like the ones spread around Manhattan that released the bloodtox into the air, killing the infected. "What in the name of…"

"Be careful, Jeremiah, he's got the poisonous gas!"

He saw the prisoner, Suzuki, try to speak out. "Wait, you don't understand! Erhgahh!" He was cut short by the electric collar around his neck.

Jeremiah hold out his gun, obviously nervous about being around that gas. "You intend to shoot?" Zero said confidently.

Alex took a step forward. "I think you know full well that doing that would be a terrible mistake. You don't want anybody here hurt, do you? I think not."

"You… you bastards… Fine! What are your demands?"

The wind lifted Zero's cape again, waving it around in the breeze. "In exchange, this for Kururugi."

"Like hell! He's charged with high-treason for murdering a prince!" Jeremiah responded, "I can't hand him over!"

Zeus just chuckled with a tint of manic in his voice, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "You're mistaken, Lord Jeremiah." He saw a news man run out in front of the transport, pointing his camera at the two. "He's no murderer."

Zeus stepped back a couple of steps and let Zero take the spot light this time. "The man who killed Clovis…" Zero turned his head and looked straight into the camera the news man was carrying. "… **was myself!**"

The crowd gasped in surprise again, and the chatter picked up even louder. He could tell Zero really had a flare for the dramatic and loved manipulating the general populace. Zero faced Jeremiah once again, speaking out to him once more. "For a single Eleven, you'll save scores of precious Britannians. I find THAT to be a bargain." Zeus looked down at the camera man and noticed the big, happy yet manic grin on his face.

"He's MAD I tell you! Disguising his truck as the highnesses, he'll pay the price for mocking the crown!" The Knightmares pointed their guns at the truck again.

"Careful, you don't want the public to learn of 'Orange', do you?" This comment got a bit of confusion from the audience. Zero tapped twice on the top of the truck, and it moved forward a bit.

"Orange? What's he talking about?" Zeus heard a solder ask another. To be honest, he didn't know either, this wasn't part of the plan Lelouch told him about.

"If I die, it will all go public. If you don't want that to happen…"

Lord Jeremiah had his eyebrow raised, with a very confused look on his face. "What are you talking about?"

Zeus heard a sliding sound from Zero's helmet. "… You'll do everything in your power to let us go… your prisoner as well!"

The look on Jeremiah's face suddenly changed from confused to serious. "Right, understood. You there, release the prisoner! Get that man over here!" The soldiers guarding Suzuki were hesitant to follow his order. "Hand him over!"

Zeus watched as the strange scene unfolded before him. He assumed that Zero was using his power to command this man to release Suzaku while making it seem he was going to reveal some sort of secret.

"Lord Kual, this is an order!"

Zeus jumped off of the truck, followed by Zero. Zero lead the way towards the middle between the two transports. Suzaku was heading towards them. He was clearly beaten and bruised, and he was dressed in some crude prison garb. "So who the hell are-" He was cut short by the strange collar releasing a strong bolt of electricity through his body, causing him to wince and grunt in pain.

"As I thought, they didn't allow you to speak."

Zeus shook his head in disgust. "You call this a judicial system?" Zeus spoke out loudly though the loudspeakers, "Sentencing a man to his death without even letting him speak? Pathetic. Zero, let's get out of here."

"Well then, 'till next time." Zero pulled out hand-held device and pushed a red button on it. A hissing came from the large gas container and a dark purple gas flowed from the openings. Zero turned around and ran toward the bridge. "Mercer, let's go." He took the girl's hand, wrapped his arm and cape around Suzaku and jumped off the bridge, bringing the both down with them. Mercer jumped off with them, retracting the bio-mass forming his shell so the impact wouldn't cause too much damage. They were caught by a net, which broke, then fell through that and landed on some soft padding in a truck. The top of the truck closed shut on them, and it started to move. Everybody lifted themselves back onto their feet. Suzaku looked depressed, and the girl had a relieved look on her face. Mercer coughed a bit into his hands and looked towards Zero. "Well… I think that was my first major operation without taking a single life."

)))

Alex held the small newborn in his hands. "Congratulations, it's a boy… a healthy baby boy." He wasn't lying about that, he was of perfect weight and size for a baby and there seemed to be no signs of deformities or illnesses. The baby was crying loudly, but for some reason it wasn't annoying like he would expect it. He handed the baby to the woman, who was still a little dazed from the birth.

"Oh… oh my god… he's beautiful… thank you!" She kissed the baby on the forehead, and the baby lessened his crying. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name in all of this… my name's Joy…" She cradled the baby in her arms. "… and this is Justice."

Alex turned around, walking down the path. This was making him feel strange, like he was deviating from his sole purpose. Ending a life was easy, but bringing a new one into the world was hard for him to stand. "My name is Alex Mercer." As he walked forwards he charged the bio-mass in his legs. He crouched down a bit, then kicked off from the ground, soaring high above her."

"Alex… MERCER! Th-The terrorist?" She stared where he once stood with a shocked look on her face. She looked down at her child and he look of shock melted into one of joy. "Mercer… maybe he's going to be the one to save us all, huh?" She kissed the baby on his cheek and rocked it back and forth in her arms.


End file.
